Transforming Social Determinants to Educational Outcomes: Geospatial Considerations

Abstract

In recovering from one of the worst educational crises in recorded history due to the pandemic, in a mission to rebuild and become more resilient, there has been a heightened urgency to provide resources to communities most in need. However, precisely identifying those needs have become all the more important due to the increase in popularity of e-learning as a suitable option and the improvement of technologies. Most notably, socially disadvantaged and historically marginalized communities were disproportionately and severely impacted by several aspects of the pandemic, in terms of health, economics, access to education, and sustainable well-being. This differential effect was modeled spatially with the combination of aerial photogrammetry, traditional geospatial mapping, and other robust AI-driven techniques to synthesize and analyze the various types of data. In this original research study, we apply various spatial health variables, relate them to educational variables in an initial empirical process of understanding how to address equity-related considerations from the context of the learner’s experience, providing the empirical evidence for the development of locally tailored learner support and assistance, meeting students where they are by specifically identifying and targetting geographically undeserved areas. We found that there were clear statistically significant relationships between educational attainment and several physical (p < 0.001), mental (p = 0.003), access to healthy food/food security (p < 0.001), and uptake of preventative health measures (p < 0.001), which also varied geographically. Geographic variations in learning experiences demonstrates the unquestionable need to understand a variety of physical, mental, and dietary factors surrounding the student’s success. Understanding a combination of these factors in a geospatial context will allow educational institutions to best serve the needs of learners.

Centering Health Equity Through the Social Determinants of Health, Interprofessional Education, and Sustainable Partnerships With Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Envisioning Upstream and Downstream Impacts

“…Yet, as the nation becomes more diverse (see Table 2), it continues to remain racially segregated (United States Government Accountability Office, 2022) not only in terms of where people live (see Figure 3), but also in terms of economic and social mobility (Chetty et al, 2018; Opportunity Insights, n.d.). Figure 3 is a web-based, interactive map, accessible through this link, and shows an uneven geographic distribution of ethnic and systemically marginalized groups (Banerjee et al, 2022). The need to create health equity is urgent.…”

Urban–rural Differences in Primary School Resources in China: A Case Study of Yuncheng County

“…For instance, the safety level of educational facilities has a direct correlation with the investment in education resources (Wang et al, 2022). Moreover, the impacts of learners' experience as influenced by educational resources on their lives are extensive and long term, and some studies have even found that there is a relationship with health (Banerjee et al, 2022). The attention of city planners and policymakers alike should be on those goals that come under the banner of social sustainability, such as educational resource equity, especially when designing new human settlements or retrofitting existing ones (Sodiq et al, 2019).…”